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Tuesday, January 28, 2014

It dawned on me the other day that it has been a while since I've told you guys what I'm eating lately. To sum it up quickly...a lot of the same stuff I've been eating all along. Is repetitive eating one of the keys to my success? I kind of think so.

I have a few standbys that I rely on quite a bit and I kind of rotate them. Poppy Seed Chicken is an old favorite, as is Sloppy Joe Casserole, and I'm already excited about my Mom's Chili recipe that I'm going to be making for Super Bowl Sunday.

Here is what is on this week's menu....

On Sunday I made a big batch of Turkey Pepperoni Egg Muffins and I've been having two each morning for breakfast.

This is an easily adaptable recipe. Seriously...you can throw anything you like in there. I've made a couple of different versions over the past few months. You can check them out here and here.

Lunch is a mix of some of my favorite things...smoked turkey, string cheese, spinach and artichoke hummus, and a few White Cheddar rice crackers. Still loving my mini lunch box I got at Target!

My post workout snack is a new find. Have you guys seen these new Protein Packs from Oscar Mayer? 160 calories and 13g of protein. I'm loving them.

Dinner varies a bit, but this was what I had last night. I know I've mentioned my love of Chipotle before, and I often eat there twice a week or more. Here's what I get...2 crispy carnitas tacos with fajita veggies, medium salsa, and corn salsa. So freaking good. I've gotten everyone in my life on board the Chipotle Wagon. Not that it was difficult to do. :)

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Well it's about time. Right as I was getting ready to break up with the scale for a little while, I'm happy to report that we are friends again. But seriously. Damn. I really try not to get too bogged down with the numbers. I really do. And oh sure...I talk a good game about "enjoying the journey"...but this hovering in the upper 220's business was for the birds. I was there for over a month. And I'm so relieved that things are headed in the right direction again. Plateaus, man. I hear they are going around right now. I'm not a fan.

Basically I did three things…#1 - I drank way more water than usual this week. Like...I'm sure people at school think I have a problem, I went to the bathroom so much. #2 - I tried not to freak out. And #3 - I relied heavily on the support of friends. Blogosphere friends and IRL friends. One friend in particular has been extremely helpful throughout this whole thing...the wonderful Margaret. She had her lap band surgery on September 19th, 2013, and is rocking it out like nobody's business.

I absolutely LOVE to tell people how I met Margaret. Have you guys ever heard Oprah say that she believes there are NO coincidences? How everything happens just as it should? Well I've got to give it up to Mother O. on this one, because it's the truth. Little Rock's biggest mall is basically right across the street from my surgeon's office. And if I have a little time to kill beforehand, I like to go there and touch things before the meeting starts. You know how I roll. As I was leaving the mall that afternoon, this gorgeous red-head held the door for me as we were both leaving. I always think it's so nice when people do that, PLUS she had the most amazing handbag I had ever seen. Imagine my surprise when she walked into my surgeon's support group 20 minutes later. Fast forward a few months down the road, and we have become really good friends. She is everything you would want in a support system. Witty, honest, and one of the smartest people I know. We meet for coffee before support group now. Anywho...She has been my voice of reason through this whole plateau business and I cannot thank her enough.

And one more thing before I go… in an ongoing effort to post more pics, I took a...I can't even believe I'm saying this phrase out loud... "full body selfie" this morning as I was leaving to go work out. Everybody has that word that makes them cringe when they say it out loud, and "selfie" is mine. I am so glad I don't have be a teenager these days. But it's on the progress photos page, so go check it out if you wish. I thought my workout outfit was cute, and the jacket is something I bought at the Dallas Nordstrom when Rachel and I were there last weekend. And about that… I don't think two people have ever had a better time shopping. It was so much fun.

Thursday, January 23, 2014

I was born in 1972. And I've always had the distinct feeling that I was born at the perfect time. You know...you always hear people say stuff like..."I missed my era", etc. But not me.

Being in the child in the 70's was indescribably awesome. I know a lot of you that read my blog are younger, so let me explain. We were allowed to be kids. We weren't overscheduled with a zillion activities and things just seemed easier. And recess!! We had three 30 minute recesses a day! Recess was where it ALL went down. We played Charlie's Angels and fought over who got to be Farrah. Kickball, Red Rover...we played it all. But the merry go round...that was my THING. Everyone made a beeline for it as soon as the bell rang. Looking back, it was pretty much comprised of splintery boards and rusty metal and was in no way safe for children. It was basically the Tetanus Express. Of course, this was way before the whole "baby on board" phenomenon and our teachers were too busy smoking in the Teacher's Lounge to worry about one of us getting lockjaw. But we all survived and we were happy. We went rollerskating on Saturdays, actually played outside, and had the best music. Plus…check out these kick ass bellbottoms. That's me on the far right with the Dorothy Hammil. I never said all things from the 70's were good.

Of course…this meant I was a teenager in the 80's. I mean…come on...the best. The big hair, the ESPRIT clothing, the music. I was a strictly New Wave girl. No metal hair bands for me. Seeing R.E.M. live in 1986 (before they took over the planet) is my favorite concert memory. And unbeknownst to me at the time…a certain young John Miller was also in the audience that night. Four years older than me and exponentially cooler, I'm sure.

And then there was the super angst-y early '90s. I had my quarter life crisis right along with Winona, Ethan, and Janeane. Reality Bites, if you've never seen it, is a stunningly accurate depiction of the time.

So...you see...perfect timing.

But I have gone off on quite the tangent here. What actually got me thinking about all of this is the room where I go to do one segment of my workout. I've mentioned before that I do cardio and weights, but since the beginning of the year, I've also added in some floor work. Mainly focusing on the lower abdominals. To do those exercises, I go downstairs and get a key from a staff member and go into the dance class studio. It's absolutely beautiful and the best part is that I'm the only one in there during that time of day. Shiny hardwood floors, huge windows. It's nice.

And because I'm a complete nostalgic weirdo, it immediately makes me think of my all-time favorite television show from my childhood........FAME. I never missed it. God, I wanted to be those kids. My 8 year-old self was ready to leave Benton, Arkansas far, far, behind and flee to the Big Apple to attend the LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts . I wasn't quite sure what my "talent" was going to be, I hadn't fully worked all that out...but I had ambition. And I was ready to start paying…in sweat. I wanted to be around musicians who inexplicably carried their instruments to every class, I wanted to wear legwarmers, and dammit....I wanted to dance on top of cafeteria tables. But the MAIN reason...the biggest reason...I wanted Debbie Allen to be my teacher. To give ME that speech. You know the one. And if you don't have any clue what I'm talking about, please check out the link below. It's pure inspiration. And the best part? You can use it when your workout motivation is lagging. I do it often! :) Debbie has NO time for your lackluster excuses. Enjoy!

Friday, January 17, 2014

Hey everyone! Just a quick check-in to let you all know that things are finally headed in the right direction again. Woo hoo! It's about time!

I'm headed out super early tomorrow morning for a quick little vacay with my BFF. We are headed to Dallas for a couple of days to get our shop on. I've been shopping my closet like Fat and Sassy just blogged about for a while now. I had a whole stash of "I'll get into this someday" clothes. Well...someday has come and gone and now I need some new duds! The best part is that while we are there, it's going to be 68 degrees and sunny. Double Woo Hoo! And did I mention we are out of school on Monday for MLK? Sweet!

Saturday, January 11, 2014

Well…dammit. What's going on here? Is this a plateau? What gives? I've been stuck at 227 for a long time. Over the holidays I was grateful to maintain, but this week I know I've done everything exactly right…calories, water, exercise. My clothes are getting looser by the day, so I'm going to try not to stress about it, but it would be good to see the number on the scale go down too.

Other than this morning's encounter with the scale, it has been a phenomenal day. First off, it's 60° and sunny. Just gorgeous. This is more like it. I love Arkansas because we truly experience all 4 seasons (sometimes in the same week), but that super cold weather was getting old quickly. Tomorrow is supposed to be the exact same.

I had to be at our high school this morning at 8:15 to read questions for a big Quiz Bowl tournament. I really enjoy doing that. It's kind of like being Alex Trebek for a few hours. I played Quiz Bowl in high school and it's always been one of my favorite things. This morning's tournament was absolutely huge, with something like 25 schools competing. I read questions for the first four games in the morning, and I just can't get over how smart those kids are. It was really impressive.

After I got done, I headed to Little Rock to shop for the BFF's birthday present. I absolutely love shopping for Rachel. I know exactly what she likes, so it's super easy to buy for her. It's almost as much fun as buying things for myself! I hope she likes the things that I got her.

John and I are getting ready to head to dinner and buy groceries for the week. We're planning on having a nice relaxing night at home.

And because I know how I am, there is a 100% likelihood that I will weigh myself again tomorrow morning just to see what's up. I'll keep you posted! Thanks for reading. :)

Thursday, January 9, 2014

I've already mentioned to y'all that just like everywhere else in the country, it has been freakishly cold here. So cold, in fact, that last night we had freezing rain all night long. It didn't turn out to be a really big deal though, because the temps hovered right around 32/33 degrees. Still...at 5:18 this morning, our school district's transportation manager issued a robo-call to alert everyone that we would be on a delayed schedule. School wouldn't start until 10AM. Cool, I thought. A couple more hours of sleep sounded just fab, so I reset my alarm, cranked up my electric blanket, and snuggled back down to sleep.

I had juuuuusssssst gotten back to sleep when a text from our assistant principal came in with this cheery message: "Staff needs to report at regular time. Don't shoot the messenger!"

We had an "abbreviated" day, and I'm sure you can all imagine just how delighted 800 fifteen year olds were when they got to school AND found out their basketball pep rally had been cancelled too. Fun times, people. Fun times.

So when it came time to leave school and go to the gym, I was having to dig deep for some motivation. I truly wanted to go home and snuggle back under that electric blanket.

I started thinking about Anna over at Fat and Sassy and her side by side face comparison post from the other day. I had a few minutes before I could leave campus, so I started messing around with my Diptic app and created one of my own. Ta Da!

I'm here to tell you...I couldn't get to the gym fast enough. A picture is worth a thousand words and sometimes it's just the kick in the butt you need too.

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Ok...I know everyone with a lap band already knows this...but lemme just say it again:

EVERY day with the band is different.

Every.

Single.

Day.

Color me confused. A few days ago I was desperately in need of a fill. At least according to the guidelines laid out by my surgeon. I could eat large meals. I was getting hungry less than three hours after a dense protein meal. And yes...I was seeking snacks. That was me...I was a Snack Seeker. :)

But as of Sunday? No sir. My band feels as tight as can be. Typically after a fill I am very...how should I put this....aware of my band. I can feel it in there. I've been feeling like that since Sunday night. Now...don't get me wrong. I can still eat normally, but I have to do everything exactly right...small bites, chewing carefully. All the things we know to do.

So...yesterday I called and cancelled the fill I had for this afternoon. I hope it was the right move. Who knows? I did reschedule for January 29th. We shall see.

Could it be the riduculously cold weather? Stress? I really am at a loss.

Sunday, January 5, 2014

Hey everyone! Sorry for the slight tardiness of this post, but I've just been having too much damn fun enjoying my Christmas break! It's been a good one.

Maybe not so good for the weight-loss, however. I weigh exactly the same as I did two weeks ago. But you know…considering all the crazy eating that has taken place in that time, I'm kind of just fine with that. I'm considering it a victory that I was able to maintain and not gain.

Where to begin!? First off, the Treehouse Getaway was everything we hoped it would be. It was so incredible, we didn't want to leave. We had everything we needed in that small, amazing little house in the trees, and I now have a new definition of cozy. Even though it was 14° outside, we were toasty warm with our heated floors, fireplace, and heart-shaped Jacuzzi. Not to mention the fluffiest, comfiest, bed ever with a skylight directly above for easy stargazing. We even had Wi-Fi! We were able to spend lots of time together, laughing, talking, and exploring the little town of Eureka Springs. Just to give you an idea of how it looked...here some photos. We loved it so much that we are considering making it an annual event.

Secondly… Happy New Year! I always find myself a little bit sad after Christmas is over. Especially when I have to go back to school! Just kidding. Ok, not really. Being a true cynic at heart, I also kind of have a bad attitude about New Year's resolutions. Don't give me wrong…if that's your thing, more power to you. I will say that it's a lot easier to get back on track when it seems like the whole country is right there with you. Eating right, exercising, etc. Every commercial I see on TV now is about a new diet food, diet plan, exercise routine, fitness gadget. And I like that a lot better than pizza commercials. But…I truly believe that you can push the reset button on your life any day of the year you choose. It doesn't have to be January 1. You can begin again at any moment. It's all up to you. I haven't made any resolutions, but my "goals" are basically the same as they always are. To follow the basic rules, routines,methods, that have served me so well thus far. I'm excited to see what 2014 is going to bring.

The coming week is going to be a really busy one. I have an appointment for a fill on Tuesday. It will be my 7th one. It never ceases to amaze me how you'll be going along in the green zone doing just fine, and then all of a sudden you can't "feel your fill" at all. I've been at that point for about a week now. I know I'm there when I start thinking about snacks all the time. When I'm right where I should be, snacking doesn't enter my mind. Another big indicator for me is if I get super hungry in the morning shortly after waking up.

However, and this is where I need input from you guys, I know I'm going to reach a point soon where another fill is not always going to be an option. Right now I have 6.7 cc in my band. I know people have way more than that, but how do you know when it's time to stop? Will I get to a point where I won't need fills every month? How many fills did it take for you?

I am getting ready to start checking off my massive To Do List to get myself ready to go back to Real Life tomorrow. I hope 2014 has gotten off to a wonderful start for all of you! Have a great week and thanks for reading! :)